An Essex Police officer has been cleared of assault after he hit a man in the head who had just bitten him on the hand.
PC Christopher Wentworth told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that he had used reasonable force against 33-year-old Hassan Butt after Butt sank his teeth into the officer’s hand.
The incident happened in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, on 20th March 2021.
In a partial clip of the incident – posted to social media – Butt was in handcuffs and being held against a car before lunging towards one of PC Wentworth’s colleagues as if to try and headbutt him.
After trying to headbutt PC Wentworth’s colleague, Butt was moved to the ground where officers could take better control of him. At some point during this time, PC Wentworth was bitten on his hand.
PC Wentworth told the court that he struck Butt in order to stop him from biting him again. Butt bit the officer with so much force, that the bite wound started to bleed.
Following a two-day trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, the officer was cleared of assault.
The court heard how Butt appeared ‘very intoxicated’ after he exited a red Peugeot. Butt’s car had just been involved in a road traffic collision with a black Mini Cooper.
The police were called to the scene and PC Wentworth arrived shortly afterwards with PC Adam James and TPS Dean Young.
Before biting the PC Wentworth, Butt had been resisting the officers attempts at trying to take him into custody.
When Butt jerked his head towards TPS Young, he was taken to the ground so that he did not pose a further threat to the officers.
During the struggle, PC Wentworth punched Butt in the head – something that is often referred to as a ‘distraction technique’, taught to police officers during Officer Safety Training (OST).
Before PC Wentworth struck Butt in the head, PC James told the court that he heard PC Wentworth ‘cry [out] in pain’.
After being subdued, Butt was then put in a spit hood. He told PC Wentworth that he was ‘pi**sed off that he had punched him in the head’.
It was alleged that PC Wentworth replied: ‘yeah, because you bit me you f**king idiot.’
When PC Wentworth arrived on the scene, he claimed that Butt had been standing with PC James and TPS Young and that Butt was ‘being agressive, shouting and not cooperating.’
It was then that PC Wentworth saw Butt jerk his head towards TPS Young as if to try and headbutt the officer.
After Butt was taken into custody, PC Wentworth was taken to Southend Hospital A&E so that the bite wound could be treated. After the wound was cleaned, the officer was given some antibiotics.
It was the case of the prosecution that it would have been impossible for Butt to have been able to bite PC Wentworth – owing to the physical dynamics of the encounter – despite the subsequent, what medics referred to as ‘a wound incised bite on the hand’, inflicted upon PC Wentworth.
Having heard all of the evidence, Judge Nina Tempia cleared PC Wentworth of the charges.
Judge Tempia said:
‘PC Wentworth is a man of good character. In my view, he held an honest and genuine belief that he had just been bitten by Mr Butt.
‘I accept that he was entitled to use reasonable force in these circumstances.
‘I find PC Wentworth not guilty.’
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